1. How do you envision culturally relevant pedagogies in your future classroom(s)? Please provide some specific examples.
As a future social studies and language arts teacher I believe it’s very important for culturally relevant pedagogies to be a driving factor in the classroom. Implementing culturally relevant pedagogies is crucial for all student’s success in the classroom. As a teacher you cannot just assume the culture and backgrounds of your students, you have to take the time and learn about them and their culture. Once you learn and understand all the different and unique backgrounds in your classroom, that’s when culturally relevant pedagogies can truly be implemented. In the reading, Milner discussed “culturally relevant curriculum” and that is something I specifically envision for my classroom (Milner IV 68). It’s important as a teacher to have curriculum that is suited and fair to all students, where they can learn about their own culture and other student’s culture as well. For my future classroom I envision projects and assignments that give students the opportunity to learn about their culture and at the same time listen and learn from others. Making sure that my future classroom has culturally relevant pedagogies is very important for the success of all students and me, the teacher, as well.
2. How does Selasi’s talk make you think about the question “Where are you from?” What are some implications for your future classroom?
The talk given by Taiye Selasi really made me think about the question “Where are you from?”. I was born in Tennessee and the majority of my family is from there but I was mostly raised in North Georgia. I don’t have many “experiences” from living in Tennessee, but I have countless “experiences” from my life in Georgia. Selasi’s talk made me think I’m really not from Tennessee, it’s just a place where I was born. All of my traditions, family, and friends were formed in Georgia. So for me, my local is North Georgia. From this video, my main takeaway as a future teacher is not to just learn where a student is from but to discover and learn about their experiences. Wrong assumptions can be made if all I do is find out where they were born or come from. It’s important for a teacher to really know their student and make connections with them. A teacher can use what they have learned about a student to help with that student’s education.
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Ryan Greene 
Hi Ryan,
I think it’s important that you plan to emphasize and implement a culturally relevant curriculum in your future classroom. It is so important for students to understand the importance and richness of their heritage and culture, so I think the projects and assignments that you mentioned will help students to explore this in a meaningful way, as well as learn from each other. Your comments regarding Selasi’s TED talk are so true, especially that it’s very easy to make wrongful assumptions about students based on where they say they’re from. It’s important to allow students and yourself, as a future teacher, to explore the experiences that make everyone unique.
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Jessica,
Youre right it is easy to make wrong assumptions about people and I know we will have to put a lot effort into not doing so. But as teachers it’s important that we truly get to know our students and it’s worth the effort!
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